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During a demo of the new iPhone 6s 3D Touch feature at the Hey Siri, Give Us A Hint event, Apple's Craig Federighi opened an email on his iPhone 6s from Phil Schiller that announced that OS X El Capitan would be released on September 30th. Apple's latest OS X 10.11 Mac operating system has been in beta since WWDC 2015 in June. Thanks to that peek at Federighi's email, we now know that all Mac users with compatible computers will be able to update to El Capitan three weeks from today, completely for free.

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OS X 10.10, better known as Yosemite, represents the next-generation in Apple's desktop operating system. Yosemite brings a new look to the desktop experience, and also ties OS X and iOS together through a feature called Continuity that I bet will make work a lot easier for Apple users. With any big change, customers will wonder if their older hardware will be supported. We recently received this question from a reader named Steve:

Q: I'm excited to check out OS X Yosemite once it launches, the redesigned interface looks great! My MacBook Air is from 2010, and I was curious if you knew if it would run Yosemite without any issues, or if I have to upgrade my computer?

A: I agree--I think the look and feel of OS X Yosemite is a breath of fresh air. I've been using the Developer Preview since it was made available at WWDC 2014, and when I use a Mac that is running Mavericks or earlier, it already feels like a big step backwards from a design perspective. Now, on to system requirements! The nice thing about Yosemite is that Apple hasn't changed any of the system requirements from what was required to run Mavericks. In other words, all Macintosh products capable of running OS X Mavericks will be supported by Yosemite; as with Mavericks, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of available storage, and OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) or later are required to upgrade. To make it easier to figure out if you're specific Mac is compatible, here is a listing of all the Apple hardware that is Yosemite-capable:

As you can see, anyone who has bought a Mac within the past five years is covered and will be able to run OS X Yosemite. Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook aluminum buyers as far back as 2008 are also good. In fact, some MacBook Pro and iMac buyers from back in 2007 can even get in on the Yosemite action, and those computers are now 7 years old! This is a pretty large blanket of Mac users that will be able to enjoy the next generation of OS X, and I comment Apple for including as many Macs as it did.

OS X 10.10 Yosemite is set to launch later this fall, and will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store. At WWDC, Apple announced that it will be made available completely free to its users. Can't beat that!

Apple recently released an updated MacBook Air, and that's the one you'd end up walking away with if you win. That means a dual-core Intel Core i5 1.4GHz Haswell processor, 4GB RAM, 9-hour battery life, and blazing fast SSD storage. Ready to enter? Here you go:

Apple has posted the OS X Yosemite design video that it showed during the WWDC 2014 keynote, which shows a bunch of the new features and design elements found in OS X 10.10. In case you haven't seen WWDC (although you can watch the WWDC 2014 keynote video in its entirety,) this video covers the larger design language updates, and the more subtle changes to the dock, icons, traffic light buttons, etc. It also gives a look at the new AirDrop functionality, Finder, Messages, Notification Center, and all the rest of the OS X new hotness.

Apple just released the first OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 beta to developers just two weeks after the public release of OS X 10.9.3. No word yet on what changes are found in the new beta, but we're hoping that some of the Mac Pro (2013) niggles are fixed, as many who own the new, sleek Mac are complaining of issues with multi-monitor support since installing the last update.

Of course, Apple is also set to release the OS X 10.10 beta on Monday at WWDC 2014, so there'll be two OS X betas rocking at once.

As we reported yesterday, Apple has released an updated MacBook Air lineup today. While we expected the slightly faster processors to be included, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Apple cut the price of all MacBook Air models by $100 as well. That means that the starting price of the MacBook Air is now $899.

"With MacBook Air starting at $899, there’s no reason to settle for anything less than a Mac," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Macs have never been more popular, and today we've boosted the performance and lowered the price of MacBook Air so even more people can experience the perfect everyday notebook."

So, what's changed? Both the 11- and 13-inch models now sport a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 Haswell processor and 4GB RAM. The base model configurations of each size include 128GB PCIe-based flash storage, which can be doubled to 256GB for $200. Build-to-order options allow you to add things like a 1.7GHz processor, 8GB RAM, and 512GB PCIe storage.

Additionally, the new models get better battery life for iTunes movie playback, with the 11-inch model going from 8 hours to 9 hours, and the 13-incher going from 10 hours to 12 hours.

Apple is expected to release its new line of MacBook Air notebooks as soon as tomorrow, multiple sources are reporting. The word is that shipments of the new MacBook Airs have already started arriving at Apple Stores in advance of the announcement, which will allow buyers to pick up the new models right away.

This won't be the redesigned fanless MacBook Air with 12-inch Retina display and buttonless trackpad that has been rumored for a few months. Instead, this update should bring the newer Intel Haswell processor to the Air, offering speed and battery life increases. Once we get word on an announcement, we'll let you know.

I was talking with my pal Dave Scherer from PWInsider today about Apple's performance, and he seems convinced that AAPL is no longer a good buy as far as stock is concerned. He basically believes that due to lower cost competition, Apple's higher-priced items won't sell as well, and that's why the stock was down after the earnings report. Of course, while I am no stock market expert, I definitely have an alternate view on how Apple will perform. My viewpoint, after the break.

While Apple's WWDC 2013 keynote video has been available on the company website, iTunes, and Apple TV, many prefer YouTube for their web viewing, and now you can watch it there, too. This was a major event for Apple, the first where Tim Cook shined as a CEO stepping outside of the shadow of Steve Jobs. Get a look at the debut of iOS 7, OS X Mavericks, iTunes Radio, iWork for iCloud, the updated MacBook Air, and a sneak peek at the all-new Mac Pro in the video--we've embedded it after the jump.

Apple announced OS X Mavericks a few days ago during the WWDC 2013 keynote, and we've been getting a bunch of questions about which Macs will work with the new operating system, like this one from Anette:

Q: OS X Mavericks looks cool, despite the silly name. However, it seems that when new software is introduced, a bunch of hardware is left out of the mix. Apple didn't make it clear which Macs will be able to run Mavericks. Do you know? Here's hoping my 2010 MacBook Air isn't left out in the cold!

A: Thankfully, it appears that Mavericks will be pretty forgiving, and won't need super-new hardware in order to run. In fact, it will run on some Macs that are as much as 6-years old. Here's the list:

As you can see, anyone who has bought a Mac within the past four years is covered and will be able to run OS X Mavericks. Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook aluminum buyers as far back as 2008 are also good. In fact, some MacBook Pro and iMac buyers from back in 2007 can even get in on the Mavericks action. We'd say that this is a pretty large blanket of Mac users that will be able to enjoy the next generation of OS X.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks is set to launch later this fall, and will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store. No pricing has been announced just yet, but if history is any indication, it will cost between $19.99 and $29.99.